Thursday, February 13, 2014

Why I Run: The Rye Snowy Owl, iSmoothrun & Magellan Echo, Wave Rider 17, and Rudy Project Photochromic Clear Lenses all together on a run

Yesterday on a beautiful clear and cold day I ran a nice 10 mile tempo north along the coast here in NH. I used to favor going south but lately have been taken by bird watching as between the coast road and land there are extensive marshes filled with neat birds. This winter I have spotted a peregrine falcon, great blue herons, and every kind of water fowl imaginable.

immature Peregrine Falcon

The internet has been filled with pictures of a magnificent Snowy White Owl camped about a mile from my house. You can tell when she is around by the bird watchers parked and staring. Well yesterday on my way back I stopped at their cars and asked where she was. They said you just ran by her, she's on the pole. And there she was. Watched me calmly as I snapped a few "telephoto" shots with my iPhone 5S which by the way handles zooming far better than prior iPhones.

The Rye Snowy Owl

I always run with my phone for 2 reasons: to indulge my geek data side and to have a camera. I never listen to music although I do listen to my run app, iSmoothRun, read off my splits.

Just before my run I had seen comments on a fine review at RunBlogger about the combination of the iPhone iSmoothRun app and the Magellan Echo. I discovered the Echo and iSmoothrun at Outdoor Retailer last summer and reviewed it here. I introduced it to Pete over at Runblogger and he calls the combo "brilliant" in his review. Well back to those comments on Pete's review. Some are steadfast in wanting a watch to keep track of all their stats and can't stand carrying a phone. I am not with them as the apps will increasingly be more capable due to the processing power of the phones and... I love to carry my "camera."

On that run I also tested for the first time some Rudy Project Clear Photochromic lenses in my Rydon sunglasses. Rudy makes in my view the finest lenses with superb optical quality, has a huge variety of lenses for different uses and are worn by many pro cyclists and nordic skiers.

I got these lenses as they go from almost clear 78% light transmission to dark 18% and have the greatest light transmission for morning/dusk, in and out of forest situations of any of the Rudy lenses. Well it was sunny and they got very dark and then took a while to return to clear. I was curious why such a long transition. So off to Google I went and discovered that photochromic lenses get darker in cold and transition slower back from dark. In heat they tend to not get as dark but transition far quicker back and forth. This applies to all photochromic lenses. Never knew that.

I got the Wave Riders as the combination of light weight 8.6 oz, stack height of 18 forefoot/ 31 heel with a flexible forefoot is in my sweet spot, except... the 13mm drop is more than I am used to. I prefer 6-10mm. Well they are a fine shoe if a bit noticeably high in the heel. It is going to be a tough choice as last weekend I ran a very fine fast (for me) 15K on a fairly hilly course in the adios boost. No harshness, super snappy and fast feeling. I thought the adios boost might be to light but now am not so sure so off to the Half at the Hamptons in the adios boost the 23d to evaluate further. And back to temperatures, unlike the Rudy lenses or the Wave Rider the boost material is not as affected by cold as the EVA in most shoes, including the Wave Rider, firms up in cold.